Apple wins dismissal of lawsuit over MacBook logic boards

Jan 8 Apple Inc won the dismissal on
Thursday of a lawsuit accusing it of defrauding consumers by
selling MacBook laptop computers that contained "logic boards"
it knew were defective, and which routinely failed within two
years.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco said the
plaintiffs, Uriel Marcus and Benedict Verceles, failed to show
that Apple made "affirmative misrepresentations," despite citing
online complaints and Apple marketing statements calling the
laptops "state of the art" or the "most advanced" on the market.

"Plaintiffs have failed to allege that Apple's logic boards
were unfit for their ordinary purposes or lacked a minimal level
of quality," Alsup wrote. "Both plaintiffs were able to
adequately use their computers for approximately 18 months and
two years, respectively."

Alsup gave the plaintiffs until Jan. 22 to amend their
lawsuit, which sought class-action status, against the
Cupertino, California-based company.

Omar Rosales, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, did not
immediately respond to requests for comment. Apple did not
immediately respond to a similar request.

The plaintiffs claimed that Apple's sale of MacBooks since
May 20, 2010, violated consumer protection laws in California
and Texas, where the lawsuit began last May before being moved.

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